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This election season has been filled with politicians making stops at Phoenix restaurants. Former President Bill Clinton ate at Poncho’s Mexican Food in South Phoenix last week, and Tim Walz, Doug Emhoff and President Joe Biden have enjoyed a bite to eat at a local eatery.
Vice President Kamala Harris has made some public stops, but on Oct. 11, her motorcade pulled up to Grand Avenue restaurant Bacanora for a private visit. There, she met with chef and owner Rene Andrade, the 2024 James Beard Award-winner for the best chef in the Southwest. Take a look at the visit:
During her time at Bacanora, one of the hottest reservations in town, Harris chatted with Andrade about her childhood foods and how he got his start in cooking. She tasted the Sonoran restaurant’s famous beans along with a quesadilla.
Andrade shared a story of his grandmother, the woman who inspired his passion for food and led him to see the “magic” in feeding others. Harris asked Andrade to share his grandmother’s name.
“Guadalupe,” Andrade replied, showing a beaded Virgen de Guadalupe artwork that was once in her house and now finds a home in Bacanora’s kitchen.
“Guadalupe, we speak her name,” Harris said.
After enjoying some bites to eat, the chef and presidential candidate sat down with a group of chefs to talk about the importance of working with banks to provide capital to small business owners. She left with a promise to keep in touch.
“I’m going to come back with my husband and eat here,” Harris said.
Bacanora
1301 Grand Ave. #1
